


One Night

by StrawberryGirl87



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Harry, Healer Draco, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-19
Updated: 2013-09-19
Packaged: 2017-12-27 00:53:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/972386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawberryGirl87/pseuds/StrawberryGirl87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the beginning of one seemingly endless night at St Mungos lives will be altered in ways that no one dreamed would be possible. It all starts with an emergency, the kind of emergency that only Harry Potter could cause. Drarry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bickymonster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bickymonster/gifts).



> WARNING: This has not been Beta read!!

Seven o'clock in the evening, Draco sighed, another emergency and just as he was settling down in his office to get some of his mountain of paper work out of the way. This was the third time this month. He couldn't help but feel a little frustrated by it despite the fact that it was his job as a healer. Head healer in fact, something he was extremely proud of. However whenever Harry James Potter was admitted to the wizarding hospital no one else would treat him, all of them apparently too nervous that they might accidently kill the boy-who-lived-twice that they wouldn't go anywhere near him.

This was the third time this month, it had been six the previous one and seven the month before that. Draco couldn't quite understand why Harry wouldn't get it through his thick head that he wasn't indestructible or invincible. He was currently feeling as if he might as well have taken up the job as Harry's personal healer. However it was still his job and he had been summoned to deal with an emergency.

Touching the pendant around his neck it port keyed him to the room where he was needed. The port key pendants had been his own invention and the very thing that had insured his promotion to his current position as Head Healer in the emergencies department of St Mungos. He was immensely proud of his invention, which enabled on call healers to reach their emergency patients quicker and therefore save more lives. However his seemed more like a collar, making him at Harry Potter's beck and call. He hadn't ever thought that the one who would need his service the most would be the golden boy of Gryffindor.

Appearing suddenly in the room he was shocked to see so many people gathered there. Usually it was just Harry on his own, occasionally accompanied by Ron, his best friend and partner in anything Auror related. Something was clearly very wrong here, worse than they had been on the many other occasions Harry had been admitted.

The patient was unconscious and bleeding from at least three major arteries. Several other healers, who before this evening had professed a fear of treating the famous wizard, were all trying to stem the heavy blood flow from the open wounds but struggling with it.

Draco, letting his instincts take over, dove in, shouting orders and barking fierce instructions determined that Harry James Potter was not going to die tonight.

"What happened?" Draco asked as he began to wave his wand around in some very complicated motions, muttering complex healing spells and incantations, his hands and white medical robes already covered in his patients' blood.

"New dark magic, a curse to sever the arteries causing the victim to bleed out in excruciating pain, there was something else to the spell but I couldn't decipher it," A familiar voice said from the corner of the room. It was only when this voice spoke that Draco realised that Ron Weasley was present. He was perhaps saturated with blood more than anyone else in the room and looked as white a sheet.

"Someone please escort Mr Weasley out of the room, he doesn't need to see this," Draco instructed, not wanting the red head to see his best friend die, because that was the way this was going to go if they couldn't stop the bleeding. There was so much blood.

Blood poured out of the saviour of the wizarding world with every weakened beat of his heart, the usual olive skin having turned pale white as four of the best, most skilled healers in the entire magical hospital worked tirelessly to save his life.

Five hours after Harry had been brought in, Draco was able to leave the room, undefeated and go in search of Ron who hadn't gone far when he had been sent away. He was sat alone on a bench just outside of the room where Harry lay unconscious but alive. He had had his head in his hands when Draco had found him and he had been crying.

"How is he?" Ron asked, jumping to his feet in a panic, clearly fearing the worst as the ashen faced healer approached him.

"Stable for the moment but he's still very weak," Draco said and watched as relief passed over Ron's face. "I've had to give him dreamless sleep, he'd only be in a great deal of pain if he were awake. It's best he sleeps through the worst of it, I'll monitor him hourly to check the levels of pain he's experiencing and wake him up when he's over the worst of it. What happened?"

"We were sent after a rogue Auror, it was very last minute, he had been our friend so I suppose we weren't as careful as we were supposed to be. He fired that curse at me but Harry saw it coming and jumped into its path, taking the hit for me," Ron said, clearly still in shock.

"The man that did this, did you catch him?" Draco asked trying to keep his calm demeanour, a specialty of his, especially in his line of work. Ron shook his head in response. "You'll need to contact your offices, a guard should be posted at his door just in case this man comes back to finish what he started."

"I can do-"

"No," Draco said, sharply cutting him off, "You look like you haven't slept in days, you're in shock. You aren't in any fit state to do anything other than rest right now. Contact your offices and then contact your wife, she's bound to be worried about you. There are people who need to be told about this," Draco said sternly and Ron nodded, only just processing what he was being told. "Don't worry about Harry, I'll stay with him, he won't be on his own."

"Thank you Draco," Ron said gratefully. The formality of using surnames had been thrown out of the window along with their animosity towards one another almost five years ago when harry had first started work as an Auror and his regular trips to St Mungos had begun. Draco didn't think that the Gryffindor was cut out for the life of an Auror, he was far too accident prone to be in that line of work but it had been exactly what the wizarding world had expected him to do.

As promised to Ron, Draco returned to Harry's room so that Harry wouldn't be alone. One of the less experienced healers had just finished clearing up the mess that they'd made trying to save his life. The room was now fit to receive visitors, which Draco was sure there would be many. The Gryffindor golden boy was lying in the hospital bed unmoving, a potion drip entering his left arm, supplying him with dreamless sleep, blood replenishing and pain relief potion, his skin ghostly pale with his blood loss.

With a wave of his wand Draco shed his blood soaked robes so that he wouldn't alarm any of Harry's visitors. No one needed to know exactly how close the saviour had come to death this time. Draco settled in the armchair by Harry's bedside feeling considerably underdressed in his grey slacks and white dress shirt. As he sat there, staring at the lifeless form of his former enemy he couldn't help but recall the very first time he had been admitted to St Mungos. Draco had only just qualified as a healer and it was his first week on the job.

He'd had three cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a hairline fracture to the skull with accompanying concussion. He had looked as if he had gone three rounds with a fully grown mountain troll and lost.

"What the fuck are you doing here Malfoy?" Ron hissed venomously as he carried his partner into the emergency department of St Mungos.

"My job Weasley," Draco responded stiffly as he helped Ron with the unconscious Harry, placing him on a vacant hospital bed.

"Get someone else then."

"I'm the healer on call today, if you want someone else then it'll be at least a two hour wait. Now I assure you I am fully qualified and can have Potter here fighting fit in no time. Now should I get to work or shall I leave him like this, as per your request?" Draco snapped testily.

"Fine, but I'm watching you Malfoy," Ron bit back with distrust, glaring at the blonde with hate and disgust. Draco only rolled his eyes and got to work.

Harry had recovered quickly on that occasion and had been released the following day without so much as a snide comment to him. He had however found himself being thanked. It wasn't until Harry's second visit that he insisted that he be called Harry and not Potter. Draco had extended the same courtesy. Ron had taken a little longer to persuade.

A heavily pregnant Hermione Weasley burst through the doors at that moment, her cheeks tear stained and her face panic stricken. Her sudden appearance had broken Draco from his musings, sending him into healer mode.

"How is he?" She asked, rushing to her fallen friend frantically as Draco got to his feet.

"He's stable, now sit down before you do yourself or the baby an injury," Draco scolded her lightly. He didn't particularly want her going into labour. He had enough on his plate with Harry without worrying about her too. It also wasn't exactly his area of expertise and he also didn't think that Ron would be able to cope with any more life shattering news right now.

"I'm fine," She said, brushing away his concern that actually touched her deeply, "He is going to be okay isn't he?"

"it's touch and go but I've managed to stabilise him for the moment. If he'd been brought in any later then he might not have been as fortunate. Your husband played a big part in saving his life."

"It was meant to be Ron," She sobbed, "Harry took the curse for him."

"Ron told me," Draco said sadly, Harry Potter, always the self-sacrificing hero, willing to die for his friends. "You really shouldn't be here Hermione. The man who did this hasn't been caught, he could come here to finish the job. I'm going to stay with Harry until a trusted Auror can be placed on guard but you should go home and rest. How far off your due date are you now?"

"Three days," Hermione muttered sheepishly, "But I had to see him, make sure that he was okay."

"I'm not going to let anything happen to him," Draco said to her reassuringly, "When you leave I'll set up wards to only those that mean Harry no harm can gain entry. I'll stay with him too so you won't have anything to worry about, okay?"

Hermione nodded, reaching over to Draco as best as she could with her swollen belly and hugged him, placing a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for saving him again Draco," She said tenderly.

"It's my job Hermione," He said but it wasn't only that and they both knew it. She gave him a knowing smile before taking his advice and leaving.

The next two hours passed in relative peace. Draco had erected several protective wards around Harry's room to keep him safe and of course Draco hadn't left his side. He did find it a little concerning that no Auror had come to stand guard. Something wasn't right and he'd put all of his staff on high alert for the rest of the night because of the nervous feeling that had sunk into his gut as a precaution. With the famous Harry Potter under their care and a rogue Auror on the run they couldn't be too over cautious.

News came at twenty past three in the morning that there had been an full blown attack on the Ministry of Magic. Draco had been alerted half an hour previously as his hospital ward had been inundated with casualties from the attack. All of them in varying states of disrepair. Most of them were fortunate not to be too seriously injured but three had died when they had been taken by surprise as a small group of their own had betrayed them.

Ron Weasley had been admitted with every bone in his body crushed. Draco had swiftly sedated him so that he didn't have to experience the agony of it and given him the potions he needed to mend the damage to his skeleton. Seamus and Dean, two more Auror's had come through it relatively unscathed, needing only a handful of minor wounds sealed.

Draco had turned to the two of them for answers when he was sure that everyone admitted was as stable as possible and being well taken care of by his well-trained members of staff.

"We can't disclose …" Dean began to say but Draco cut him off with a scathing stare.

"I have just over half of the Auror's in England in my ward right now. People we all count as friends, including Harry who almost lost his life tonight. I don't give a damn if you're not supposed to disclose information. I need to know what the hell happened."

Seamus and Dean exchanged looks of surprise, they'd of course known that they were now on good, if not friendly terms with the healer but they hadn't realised exactly how friendly they'd become.

"The Ministry was attacked, they had infiltrated the Auror office. We thought that it was just the one rogue agent but it turned out to be at least six, three teams of us. We managed to detain four of them but two, including the man that attacked Harry managed to get away. We discovered them before they were ready to face us which is why I don't think it's over yet."

Draco nodded as Seamus explained it to him. "Most of your injured will be ready to go back into the field within the next few hours," Draco informed them, knowing that they would need their best fighters available to them.

"And what about Harry and Ron, they're the best we have?" Dean asked and Draco sighed, tensing up, he had expected this.

"Ron needs at least twelve hours to repair the damage done, there wasn't a single bone in his body that was left intact but even after they're fully healed he'll been at least a day of bed rest until I will happily discharge him."

"And Harry?" Seamus pushed.

"I can't say," Draco said regretfully, "He lost a lot of blood. He could easily have died tonight. It'll take more than a couple of days, I'm currently monitoring the amount of pain he's in. I wouldn't wake him until it's at a manageable level. That all depends on Harry but it could take days and even then it'll be months before I'm able to sign him off to go back into the field and that's if everything goes smoothly."

"Make it happen sooner," Dean said, his voice neither demanding nor forceful but he was deadly serious.

"I can't …"

"Just do it Malfoy, we need him," Seamus snapped. It was in that moment that Draco realised something profound. Harry's so called friends still thought of him as the hero who could fix everything. He was their saviour, a true hero who would once again take up that mantel and save their arses. Draco couldn't believe how sorry he felt for Harry who would never be able to escape his past.

He watched as the two Auror's walked away, leaving their demands hanging in the air. Their boss had summoned them to him as he arrived, followed directly by Hermione again who looked as if she'd been crying again. Instead of going towards the Auror's she headed straight for Draco, wrapping her arms around him.

"You shouldn't be here!" He told her sternly, "It isn't safe!"

"I know but now that Ron's here too … he and Harry are the two people that I care about most. I have to be here with them. I can't just stay at home and worry."

"Fine," Draco said with a resigned sigh, realising that he wasn't going to be getting rid of her any time soon. "Just please go into Harry's room, I'll make sure that Ron is in there as well. This place isn't safe right now. If you insist on being here then I don't want to take the chance that you could be hurt."

Hermione smiled at him gratefully, "Thank you, I didn't realise you cared so much."

"You three have been in and out of here so often in the last five years I've worked here that it's hard not to care about you, all of you. I must of fixed Harry up a thousand times since he became an Auror. I'd swear he had some sort of death wish if I didn't know him." Hermione couldn't help but laugh.

"That's our Harry, stupidly reckless and heroic to the end."

"Let's just make sure that end isn't any time soon," Draco said and Hermione nodded in agreement. "You go to Harry's room, the wards are already in place. I'll go and transfer Ron. They're both asleep right now but they're doing alright."

Before she left she gave him another kiss to the cheek before waddling off. Draco sighed, he really was fond of the golden trio. Maybe more than he wanted to admit to himself. With Hermione the only one of them conscious he had to protect her as he knew she wouldn't willingly leave, not while her husband and best friend were here and suffering as much as they were. Both of them could have easily been killed this evening and he couldn't blame her for wanting to be close to them.

"Malfoy," A male voice called out to him as he finished transferring Ron over to Harry's room. He turned to see the head Auror striding toward him, his chest puffed out in importance but looked harassed. It was nearing four in the morning by this point, everyone was tired and under unbelievable amounts of stress.

"Gatesby," Draco greeted, feeling as if he should go and check on his patients rather than continue to stand around chatting about them.

"How is everybody getting on?" He asked, clearly full of concern. Nearly all of his staff were either dead, traitors or in St Mungos with injuries. There hadn't been such a blatant attack on the Ministry since Voldemort's reign of terror. He had every reason to be concerned.

"Healing Sir, everyone brought in alive will make it through," Draco said to him truthfully. He was very good at his job.

"What precautions are you taking in regards to Mr Potter?" Malcolm Gatesby asked.

"He and Mr Weasley are in a well warded room together. As you are no doubt aware, Ron's heavily pregnant wife is here. I thought it best if all three of them be protected as they are all so often targets. It is no secret how much Harry cares for the two of them."

"Agreed, but I must also warn you that it has been well documented how close you and he have become over the past few years. The Prophet has credited you as his personal healer and friend. You know how the Prophet likes to exaggerate things."

Draco nodded, he understood perfectly, which was exactly why he had stopped reading that particular wizarding newspaper years ago. "Are you suggesting that I might also be in danger Sir?" Draco asked.

"I'm suggesting that anyone who would wish harm on Harry Potter would do well to take you out of the equation. I've been told that if it wasn't for you and your actions this evening then he'd be dead. You have done us all a great service the last five years, however I don't believe that everyone would see it in the same light."

Draco nodded his understanding, "My staff have my uttermost trust and belief in their abilities, they will attend to your Auror's, most were not too seriously injured. I will take personal care of Ron and Harry myself."

"Good man, just make sure that those wards of yours are up to scratch. There are many people who would be glad to take advantage of Potter's weakened state." Again Draco nodded, "I'm placing his well being in your hands Malfoy, I'm trusting you. I don't think I need to tell you the repercussions should anything happen to him while he is under your care."

"Yes Sir," Draco said through gritted teeth, not appreciating the threat. Swiftly Draco made his rounds, being a little sterner that usual with his staff, seething at the threat that Malcolm Gatesby had issued to him. Like he would ever let anything happen to Harry.

After ensuring that his staff were well briefed and doing everything they were supposed to be doing, Draco returned to Harry and Ron. Hermione had fallen asleep in the armchair in his absence, one hand over her swollen stomach protectively. Conjuring an extra blanket Draco covered her over before replenishing the pain and dreamless sleep potions for the injured men.

Looking at the three of them it was hard to think that they were all only twenty-three years old. War had aged all four of them beyond their years. None of them had escaped untarnished mentally or physically. The work that harry and Ron now did as Auror's had only added to the scars that they carried. Draco found himself stood next to Harry's bed, looking down at him fondly.

He had three bandages covering up his wounds, one on his left wrist, another around his neck and the third around his right thigh. His injured leg having been placed outside of the blankets to allow it easier for the healers to check the wound. He had been stripped down to just wearing baggy boxers, the hospital blanket covering up the majority of his torso.

The blonde found his hand resting by and almost stroking Harry's hair. The messy raven locks that seemed so soft to the touch. He had grown so fond of him over the years, He couldn't imagine not seeing him on an almost weekly basis as he came into St Mungos with his various ailments.

He knew the exact moment that his fondness for the saviour of the wizarding world had escalated into something much more, something that he'd never divulged to anyone and probably never would.

"Mr Potter is wairing for you Mr Malfoy," A young girl whom Draco had employeed the week before said, sounding a little nervous.

"Thank you Melanie, I'll see to him now," He said with a sigh, three years Potter had been coming here and he was still the only one brave enough to treat him.

"What is it this time Harry?" Draco asked as he walked into Harry's room. This was the room that he was always taken to, ever since someone had used a permanent sticking charm, thinking they were being funny, and stuck a plaque to the wall above the bed. It read 'Official hospital bed of harry Potter, the boy-who-lived.' Draco had always suspected that it had been Ron Weasley who was behind the not so hilarious prank. No one else dared use the room now, they all thought it was cursed.

"Broken wrist," Harry said with a smile. Draco sighed again as he stood before Harry, inspecting the break with a wave of his wand.

"It's a clean break," He commented, "Easily fixed. I'm surprised that your Auror training didn't cover how to mend such minor injuries like this," He said as he began the incantation required to mend the break. He had never known another patient to be so cheerful while also having a broken bone.

Harry watched him work with a smile, "Maybe I just like to see you," Harry said as Draco finished. Grey eyes looked down into green with surprise. Draco was looking for any sign that Harry might have been joking but all he saw was a genuine smile.

"All better," Draco said, his voice barely a whisper.

"Thanks," harry replied, their closeness suddenly all they could think of. Draco still holding Harry's hand within his own.

"I should go …" Draco said as Harry had leant forward a fraction.

"yeah," Harry had replied sounding dejected as he slumped back, removing his hand from Draco's grip. Since that day it hadn't been the same between them, the tension extreme but neither of them willing to make the first move.

"You really care for him don't you," Hermione said breaking Draco from his musings. He hadn't even realised that she was awake/

"It's my job," Draco said, quickly moving his hand from where it had been caressing Harry's hair.

"I think it's more than that," Hermione said softly, looking at the healer fondly, "I can see it in the way you look at him."

Draco look a deep breath, scolding himself for not concealing it better. "It doesn't matter," He said as he checked the potions going into harry through the drip.

"Have you ever wondered why he never dated after he and Ginny broke up?" Hermione questioned.

"I always just thought his job got in the way," Draco said, "He does seem to be a bit of a workaholic. He's always in here for some injury or another."

"Maybe he just wanted to see you," Hermione said, speaking to Draco as if he were blind.

"He wouldn't hurt himself on purpose just to see me," Draco said dismissively.

Hermione smiled at how clueless the blonde was. "His job puts him in danger," She said, "I just think that it's funny that you're the only one he ever let treat him when he got sent here. The smallest of injuries and he would always come and see you here, even when he could have easily mended half of them himself." She explained and Draco just stood shaking his head, "Harry has never been very good at expressing his feelings Draco. He'd never tell you to your face because he'd be too scared of getting hurt but even Ron could see how he feels about you."

"I never thought, I didn't think he could ever want me like that. Not with our past history."

Hermione smiled affectionately at the healer, happy that he had finally realised. She was becoming rather emotional in the ninth month of her pregnancy and playing match maker brought a tear to her eye.

A bright flash and a loud bang out in the hallway caught their attention instantly, Hermione getting to her feet too quickly, her wand drawn. However before Draco could investigate what was happening she screamed in agony. Turning to see the Gryffindor girl clutching at her swollen stomach, pain written across her face as her waters broke.


	2. Part Two

Swearing blindly Draco ran forward in a blind panic, lowering Hermione back into the armchair while casting several diagnostic spells on her which told him that she had gone into labour.

Several more flashes of light and explosions erupted from the corridor. Trying to figure out what to do first Draco ran back to the only door in and out of the room and cast several locking charms, effectively sealing them inside. If anyone one got through the wards, which would be tricky enough then they'd still have almost no chance of defeating the complex locking charm. Draco wouldn't be able to afford any distractions but the problem was he would also need a little bit of help.

Ron of course would be useless as his bones were still re-growing and he had no use over his limbs. Harry on the other hand would be in a great deal of pain if he woke up now even with the pain reliving potion but he was Draco's only option. The golden trio were his responsibility.

Once he was sure that no one would get through the door Draco went to Harry's bedside and started to alter the potion lines. He switched dreamless sleep for pepper-up, the only safe way he knew to counter act the effects of the sleeping potion.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked through pained gasps as Draco began to transfigure various items into things they would need including a third bed so that Hermione could lie down.

"I'm going to need some help," Draco told her, "I can't deliver this baby on my own. Ron still doesn't have any useable bones so it has to be Harry."

"But it'll hurt him to wake up!" She gasped as another contraction wracked through her body making her scream out in discomfort. "He isn't finished healing."

"Look at me Hermione," Draco said going to her and kneeling before her, forcing her to look at him. "I can't deliver this baby on my own and I can't let anyone else into this room. Trust me when I tell you that I'll be able to heal Harry again but I won't forgive myself if something happens to this baby or to you," He said sternly as he helped her over to the newly transfigured bed and lay her down.

"Thank you," She said before another contraction pain took over. Draco was a little concerned with how close together they were coming and how fast the labour was progressing. Though he didn't have much time to ponder this as he heard stirrings coming from Harry's bed. Reassuring Hermione that he'd be right back Draco rushed over to Harry whose eyes were open and his breathing was heavy and pained.

"How do you feel?" Draco asked, checking over Harry's vitals and noticing that the pain spike was still much too high.

"Like someone is torturing me with the cruciatus curse," He replied with a raspy voice. Draco frowned, checking that Harry's pain potion was delivering the right dosage – which it was.

"Harry, I need you to listen to me very carefully, can you do that?" Draco asked as Hermione whimpered across the room and the sounds of a battle raged in the corridor. Harry nodded, clearly terrified. "You've been badly injured and are currently in St Mungos. You shouldn't have been woken up so soon but something's gone wrong here. There is a fight going on outside with the Auror's and I'm suspecting a few rogue Auror's. Hermione has just gone into labour and I need you to help me deliver her baby."

Harry blinked as this information sunk in and he attempted to sit up. "I have to help fight," He said with determination, "It'll be what's expected of me."

"You're in no fit state!" Draco said firmly, "There is no way I'm letting you out of this room Harry Potter."

Harry looked at Draco in shock, never having heard him speak like that before. "You don't understand," Harry started to say but Draco shook his head, telling him that he was in no mood to be disagreed with.

"What I understand is that there are plenty of Auror's out there to fight, you are still badly hurt and are only awake right now because I need you to help me deliver Ron and Hermione's baby, now get a grip!" Draco said rather forcefully and Harry nodded dumbly.

Hobbling on his injured leg and winching with the pain it caused him Harry managed to stagger over to Hermione with Draco's help. She let out an agonising cry as they reached her. On route Harry had cast a worried glance to Ron and began to ask if he was okay. Draco only nodded as he was far too busy working on Hermione and making her comfortable to give Harry a full run down of Ron's condition.

"How can I help?" Harry asked feeling completely overwhelmed and in a great deal of pain which he was doing his best to suppress. Though the one thing that didn't bother him was being almost completely undressed apart from his boxer shorts.

"I'm going to focus on Hermione and the medical side of things, keeping her and the baby alive and healthy. I need you to focus on everything else, keep talking to her, it's almost time for her to start pushing and I can't do that as well. I have to keep running several tests all at once to make sure they're both doing okay, a job usually done by three healers, not one," Draco explained, "Which is why you'll need to take over the physical process of actually delivering the child."

"You want me to what?" Harry asked, his eyes wide in shock as he tried to determine if Draco was serious or not. Harry had never delivered a baby in his life, in fact getting that close to a girls downstairs was horrifying to him, especially when that girl was Hermione.

Draco, taking Harry by surprise, grabbed a hold of him and placed a kiss on his lips before pulling away and giving him a stern glare, "Just do it you daft buggar," he said as Hermione screamed again. Mutely Harry nodded and they got to work, the Gryffindor male supressing the pain that raged through his body and his mind half focused on the feeling of the blondes lips on his own. "Focus Harry," Draco said, snapping him out of his daydream and wondering if that had really just happened.

"Right," Harry said as he disappeared all of Hermione's clothing from the waist down before covering her up with a sheet. If he wasn't already gay then what he saw over the next half an hour would have put him off women for life.

Watching a tiny human being pushed out of a hole far too small was not something that Harry ever wanted to witness again and it made him very thankful for the fact that he was a man. He had the uttermost respect for his best friend as he held the tiny baby girl in his arms, Hermione dozing peacefully as Draco healed her.

"Hi Rose," harry cooed at the infant as he rocked her tenderly in his arms. Draco watched Harry fondly as he finished up with Hermione. Transfiguring a crib for little Rose Weasley he watched as Harry settled the sleeping baby down.

"Let me check you over," Draco said, moving Harry back over to his bed and sitting him down. The Gryffindor male had been so wrapped up in Hermione and Rose that he had been able to put the pain in his body to the back of his mind but now it hit him like a raging hippogriff stomping all over him. "I should really put you back into a dreamless sleep," The healer said as he checked Harry's vitals and saw that the pain was off the scales. He couldn't understand how Harry hadn't passed out from it already but he was Harry Potter after all.

"Don't," Harry pleaded, he didn't want to be put back to sleep, not when something he had wanted for five years was so close to being within his grasp.

"How much pain are you in?"

"It's bearable," Harry lied and Draco raised an amused eyebrow.

"You said that it felt like you were being crucio'd when you woke up, you're trying to tell me that it's just gone away?" harry nodded unconvincingly.

"You tell me the truth Harry potter or I'll …"

"You'll what?" Harry challenged.

"I'll never kiss you again," Draco said with an amused smirk when Harry's jaw dropped.

"You wouldn't …"

"Try me," Draco challenged.

"Fine," Harry said in a huff, "It hurts a lot more than when I first woke up," He begrudgingly admitted which initiated a smug smile from Draco who then leaned forward, closing the distance between them, placing a soft kiss upon Harry's lips.

"See, that wasn't so hard now was it?" He asked smiling sweetly at Harry who just glared at him.

"I feel guilty about this," Harry said suddenly, taking Draco by surprise.

"About us?" Draco questioned, "You aren't seeing someone else are you because I can't be the other man Harry, not with you-" Draco's panicked rambling was cut off by a desperate chaste kiss that held the power to immediately silence him.

"Not about us you prat, about my friends out there, fighting when I'm sat here with you." Harry clarified, he looked over at Ron who was still unconscious and unaware that he was now the father of a beautiful baby girl. He then looked to Hermione who slept soundly and their daughter beside her, so perfect in her innocence. His heart bled to see Ron so damaged, but at least he would live, Harry couldn't say the same for those he cared about fighting in the corridors of St Mungos right now.

"Your place isn't out t here Harry, you don't have to be there hero anymore. You did your job, you gave your life, rose from the dead and killed Voldemort. You then spent five years tracking down and detaining dark wizards, putting your life on line. You've more than your fair share, you can sit this one out." Draco argued heatedly, "I swear to Merlin that if you try and go out of that door I'll put you to sleep again faster than you can figure out my locking charms!"

"I'm not going anywhere," harry said at the distraught words tumbling from the Slytherin's lips.

"It's taken us five damn years Harry, I refuse to lose you now."

"You know, you're cute when you're upset," Harry said with a sweet smile, Draco only glared at the Gryffindor who chuckled.

"Just lie down and let me do my job and take care of you," Draco said clearly in a huff, something Harry found to be adorable. "And don't call me cute, I'm not cute, handsome yes but I am in no way cute."

"You're a little cute," Harry teased as Draco forced him to lie back on the bed, waving his wand and casting a few diagnostic spells, trying to discover the source of the pain Harry was in. What he found was not good news.

"Something isn't right," He said sadly, "You're in too much pain, this isn't like any curse I've ever seen Harry, I'm already giving you the highest dose of pain reliving potion I can and it's barely touching the surface of it."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked suddenly feeling very concerned at the panicked look on Draco's face.

"You're dying, whatever curse you were hit with is darker magic than I thought was possible. It looks like every nerve ending in your body is firing negatively. I'm going to have to put back to sleep, I don't have any other choice, it'll keep you alive longer, this type of pain over long periods is enough to drive anyone out of their mind. I won't be able to help you if I don't do this," Draco said with tears in his eyes.

"What aren't you telling me?" Harry asked looking Draco in the eye and silently pleading with him to tell the truth no matter what it cost him.

"If you go back to sleep now and I can't found a way to save you then you won't wake up again," Draco said, tears pouring from his eyes.

Harry fell silent for a moment, considering and digesting this new information. Finally he nodded, resigned and resolute. "Draco, I need you to listen to me," Harry said trying to keep his voice steady but the pain was already reaching an intolerable level, even for him. Draco nodded to show that he was listening. "If I don't make it through this, tell Ron and Hermione that I was ready, tell them that I will always love them no matter what and to take care of their beautiful little girl. You'll need to tell them how I lived long enough to help bring her into this world. She needs to be shown that this world can be beautiful and not just filled with death, pain and uncertainty."

"I'll tell them," Draco said, unable to stop the tears that fell endlessly down pale cheeks. Harry took Draco's hand, smiling softly at him.

"We should have been so much more than this Dray, I'm so sorry that it took so long for us to get here. I've loved you for so long and I've never had the courage to say or do anything about it. In know that no matter what you'll fight to save me until my last breath and nothing I say will change that but please love, if you do fail, for whatever reason, it was not your fault. It was my time to go. You have to let me go and know that I will always love you."

Draco was only crying harder now as Harry drew him closer, kissing him passionately, desperately, with five years of emotion pouring out between them. With shaking hands Draco reapplied the dreamless sleep potion and watched, his heart breaking as Harry drifted back to sleep. Leaning forward, Draco placed a tender kiss to Harry's forehead where his scar was still visible.

"I'm never going to let you go," Draco whispered softly to him, "Never."

In the space of a single hour the two of them had brought a new life into the world, they'd fallen in love, they'd argued and said their goodbyes. It was a lifetime of love and devotion that made Draco more determined than ever to try and save Harry, no matter what the cost.

He had to get to his office across the hall, he had access to the floo network in there and that's what he needed. There was someone who knew more about dark curses than anyone not in Azkaban. Someone that he could trust. If anyone could help harry then she would be the one.

The trouble was that a battle still raged outside in the corridors and to get to his floo he would have to go right through it while also leaving the door to Harry's room unlocked so that he'd be able to get back inside in a hurt. Of course the wards were still in place but they weren't infallible. He just had to trust that they'd be enough and get back as quickly as he was able.

Draco looked to Ron, Hermione and then to Rose, he couldn't help but feel a little selfish for leaving them so vulnerable, it went against everything he had learnt as he had trained towards becoming a healer. He wasn't supposed to sacrifice the many to save just one but this was Harry Potter, normal rules didn't apply to him, he had to try and save him.

"Hermione," He whispered quietly, not wanting to wake Rose and draw unwanted attention to their room when he was about to leave it so unprotected. "I'm sorry, I know how tired you must be but I need you to stay awake for me. Harry is dying, to save him I need to get something from my office but that means I have to leave," Draco said in a rush. Hermione nodded sleepily, seeming to understand what he was saying.

"Save him," She said softly, looking over to her sleeping infant and unconscious husband. "I'll watch over them."

Draco nodded and placed a kiss on her cheek, thankful that she understood, he didn't want to have to tell her the painful goodbye that Harry had trusted to him. "I'll be right back," He said and she nodded looking determined as she reached for her wand.

It was still very much a battle ground throughout the emergency ward at St Mungos and Draco had to remind himself that these were the people who had attacked Harry, the reason why he was slowly dying. Through the small circular window in the door he could see his office, not five meters away. However even running he wasn't sure that he would make it unscathed as flashes of green and red light streaked ominously through the air.

Taking the first step he checked the wards, which still held strong and then he removed the complex locking charms. Taking a deep breath he turned to Hermione who mouthed, "Good luck," he nodded and opened the door a crack, wand at the read, looking for signs of friend or foe.

"Gatesby," Draco hissed, trying to get the lay of the land.

"Dead," An Irish voice responded, wherever Seamus was Draco couldn't see him. "How's Harry, can he fight?"

"I tried to wake him but he's dying, I need something from my office if I have any chance of saving him," Draco said quietly as several flashes of purple light were shot in Seamus' direction.

"Where's your office?" The Irish wizard grunted as he deflected the curses and sent a few of his own back.

"Just across the hall, can you cause a distraction so I can get there?"

"No problem, just be ready Malfoy," Seamus hissed, still not trusting the Slytherin or his motives completely.

"Give me twenty minutes and then cause a distraction so I can get back to him," Draco said.

"Alright," Seamus grunted, "Get ready Malfoy," Draco took a deep breath as Seamus threw something up into the air and fired an orange spark at it.

Whatever it was exploded, sending lightning white flashes of light and thick black smoke towards the enemy. Taking his opportunity Draco ran. He felt the sting of a curse as it graved over his arm and he felt the warm wetness of blood but he kept going, diving into his office and found himself confronted by a witch, dressed all in black. She was clearly not an Auror.

Draco pointed his wand at her defensively. She was injured but the clock was ticking, he didn't have time to question her or to help her either. Stunning her before she had the chance to do anything to him, locking the door to his office so that he wouldn't be disturbed and then moving to his desk, rummaging for the floo powder he kept there.

Grabbing a fist full of powder and ignoring the pain in his arm he flung it into the fireplace watching as a green flame erupted in front of him. Kneeling down he stuck his head into the flame and thought about his mother. She was the only one that he could trust. She had saved harry once before, he had high hopes that she would help to do it again.

In his panic he had forgotten how early it was, he appeared in the fireplace in his mother's bedroom at the manor where a house elf was serving her tea.

"Mother," Draco said urgently, "I need your help, it's of vital importance that you come with me right now."

"Draco dear, what is the matter, can I not dress first?" She asked, taken aback by the abrupt tone her son had taken with her. The house elf had already fetched a cover robe for her to put on as Narcissa climbed out of bed.

"No, Harry's dying and I think you can help me save him, please hurry. Come to my office at St Mungos as fast as you can. Time is against us." With those final words he pulled his head from the fire and scurried back so that she'd have room to join him. While he waited he checked the time, realising he had ten minutes before Seamus created another diversion for him to get back.

Narcissa stepped out of the fireplace a few moments later looking harassed. "Do you harbour any ill will towards Harry?" Draco asked quickly.

"Darling, you're bleeding," She said, trying to inspect her sons injury but he wrenched his limb from her grasp.

"Answer the question mother," Draco demanded harshly, Narcissa bristled at the tone her son used with her.

"No, I harbour no ill will against Harry Potter, why?"

"Because the wards won't let you near him if you do and I didn't want to leave you in the middle of a battle ground if the wards refused you entrance," Draco said taking a hold of her forearm and dragging her to the door, which he unlocked with a wave of his wand. "Keep your head down, keep moving and don't let go of me," Draco instructed as he opened the door and caught Seamus' eye.

The Irish wizard was ready and nodded to show that he had seen. With a final stunning spell Draco watched as Seamus released several of what looked to be cockroaches, which scurried towards the attackers, multiplying as they went.

"Ready," Draco said to his mother who nodded uncertainly as she watched several hexes and jinxes fly through the air. The little black cockroach things suddenly exploded, ejecting thick purple smoke and squirting luminous yellow liquid which seemed to burn on contact. Pulling his mother along with him Draco ran, keeping hunched over as they moved. He heard Narcissa scream behind him and when he turned to see why he saw that some of the yellow liquid had landed on her neck.

Draco just kept pulling her along, flinging her into the door first. "Finnegan, do you need anything?" Draco asked as a bit of wall exploded by his head making him duck to avoid the shards of plaster.

"Harry!" The Irish wizard said, "Fix him!" Draco nodded and disappeared into Harry's room where he found his mother, hands raised in the air in surrender as Hermione had her wand trained directly on her.

"Easy Hermione," Draco said, "She's here to help."

Hermione lowered her wand but only slightly, Rose was in the crook of her arm, sleeping peacefully, unaware of the danger surrounding her. Draco, knowing that Hermione, though still on guard, would not attack, turned back to the door and set about dealing themselves inside.

"Let me see your neck," Draco insisted, turning to his mother. He winched when he saw the angry red blisters that were oozing with green puss. Summoning a soothing balm from the cabinet against the wall he applied a thick layer to her injury.

"Please let me tend to your arm my dragon," She said, once again attempting to take a look at his arm but Draco resisted.

"Harry first," He insisted and Narcissa scowled.

"You won't be any use to Harry injured Draco, now let me heal you," She scolded him. Sighing he finally conceded defeat and allowed her to check his still bleeding arm.

"Draco, I didn't know your mother was a healer," Hermione said, astonished.

"Before Draco was born that was my profession," She drawled, "My son followed in my footsteps," She said proudly.

Finally Hermione had stowed her wand away, "How does it look?" Draco asked.

"The wound is strange, dark magic, it doesn't' seem to want to heal, you are lucky the curse only grazed you."

"It sounds like the same curse that Harry took full on," Draco said tensing as his mother began to seal the injury shut, the burning feeling was immense.

"Mmm," Narcissa said thoughtfully, "I've not seen magic this dark in a long while," She mused as a bandage sprouted from the end of her wand and wound itself around Draco's would tightly to ensure it remained sealed.

"Can you fix it?" Draco asked in a panic, remembering Harry's painful goodbye.

"Draco, you need to understand that this curse is designed to kill slowly and painfully. If you don't die from the blood loss first then the pain takes over, it's almost worst to be saved from dying from blood loss. It goes after your entire body, attacking every nerve in your body. If untreated the curse spreads to your blood and then your organs, shutting them down one by one, leaving the brain and heart until last. You were only grazed by the spell, I can heal you and stop the curse latching on to your body but if Harry took a full hit it might not be as easy to save his life. From the looks of it the curse has already latched on to him pretty firmly," She warned.

"I'm not giving up on him," Draco said stiffly, "I love him mum, I need to be able to save him, I can't let him go, I'm not ready to lose him."

"Dragon, you have to come to terms with the fact that no matter how hard we try or how hard he fights that it might already be too late for him. You may not have a choice but to let him go dear one."

"I'm not giving up on him mother," Draco told her, "If he lets go then so do I," He said seriously, needing Narcissa to understand exactly how much he meant what he was saying. "Mine and Harry's fates are tied, if he can't be saved then neither can I."

Narcissa looked ashen faced at this, Draco was all she had left. "We had better set to work then," She said determined.


	3. Part Three

Draco and Narcissa gathered around Harry's bed, wands each of their hands each holding one of Harry's as they began muttering spells and incantations together.

"There is already a strain on his heart," Narcissa said but Draco could feel it.

"It's failing," Draco whispered softly, his heart breaking.

"I have an idea that might save him but it will take every ounce of our strength both magical and physical. It'll have to be done soon, if we wait too much longer then I'm not sure it'll work, even now it isn't a certainty."

"Anything," Draco said desperately.

Narcissa turned to Hermione too, "We'll need you and your husband too if you're both willing," She said.

"Of course," Hermione said as she settled Rose in her crib.

"It could set your husband's recovery back a few days and weaken the rest of us considerably for a few days as well even if it doesn't work."

"We'll do it, won't we Hermione," Draco said and she nodded in agreement.

"Get your wand and stand between Harry and Ron, hold their hands with your wand in whichever hand is comfortable." Narcissa instructed and she did as she was told. "Draco, take Harry's other hand and hold your wand up in the air with your free hand, pointing it towards mine," She said and Draco took up his position as the older Malfoy mirrored her son, holding Ron's free hand. "Everyone take a deep breath," She commanded, "Our hearts must be beating together if this has any chance of working. This is the only chance we have to save his life."

Hermione breathed deeply, focusing on the beating of her heart, gasping as she felt the magic flowing through them. Two unconscious wizards, two healers and an extraordinarily gifted witch all merged together, forming one solid magical entity, powerful enough to take on and destroy the curse.

Narcissa had only read about accounts of this being done, it had come to mind upon examining her son and seeing the extent of the dark magic that had infected him. She just prayed that she remembered everything and it went according to plan. If she lost her son because of a foolish mistake then she wouldn't ever be able to forgive herself.

HPDM

Harry stood back in Kings Cross Station where he had met Dumbledore all those years ago when Voldemort had killed him for the second time. However as he opened his eyes and adjusted to the brightness it was not his old Headmaster that came to greet him. Standing before him smiling proudly at him were his parents.

"Hello sweetheart," His mother said softly, she was more beautiful than any of the photos he had could portray. Her smile was kind and genuine, hair redder than any one of the Weasley's. Everything about her seemed to comfort him. Harry knew what this meant.

He looked to his father who grinned his boyish grin, "It's so good to see you son," He said proudly. His parents were stood in front of an open carriage door of a brilliant red steam train, so alike to that of the Hogwarts Express that it was uncanny.

"You've come to help me move on, haven't you?" Harry asked numbly. Ever since he had visited this place the first time he had sworn that he wouldn't come back, not until he had done everything he wanted to do with this life. He hadn't even achieved half of what he wanted and yet here he was … just as Draco had confessed his feelings to him, he was stood on the precipice of life and death, about to leave his mortal life behind him.

"It is your time sweetheart," Lily said softly.

"You've done your duty, you can rest now," James told him.

"But what if I want to go back, what if I'm not finished?" Harry questioned desperately, he wasn't ready yet. "Would I become a ghost if I decided to go back?"

"We can't tell you that sweetheart, we're here to help you pass on to what comes next, to make your transition easier," Lily explained to her son.

"We can't give you more answers than that I'm afraid son," James said.

"I'm so sorry mum, dad, I love you both so much but I'm not ready to die yet, death has never scared me, I've faced it head on and never walked away. There is someone fighting to bring me back, someone who wants me to live and I think that I might love him," Harry said and both of his parents smiled at him knowingly. They had never left him, not really. They knew about Draco, his feelings and the merry dance they had been doing for the past five years, neither of them brave enough to admit their feelings.

"Harry," A voice said but it didn't come from anyone that Harry could see. The voice seemed beautifully familiar to him and he latched on to it. "Don't you dare die on me, I'm not ready for you to leave me, don't let go," Draco's pleading voice said. Harry's heart fluttered with the sound of it.

Harry, who had glanced around in search of Draco, thinking that he might have been here now turned back to look at his parents and was surprised to see that the crimson steam engine already fading from view behind them. The decision had been made, he wouldn't be going with them today.

"When your ready son," James said with a proud look on his face.

"We'll be here sweetheart," Lily finished as they too started to fade away right before him. For a split second Harry panicked, worried that he had made the wrong decision as the brightness of the station became brighter still, forcing his eyes to close. He had no idea what it was that he was going back to, whether he would become a ghost or return as a wizard. Either way Harry realised that he was simply happy to be going back at all … he needed to be with Draco that was the place he was meant to be.

HPDM

"Wait," Narcissa said suddenly as Draco lay slouched against Harry's bed sobbing, "His heart, it's restarted all on its own." Her tone was one of bewilderment, she had placed her hand on his chest and his heart had not been beating, she had checked his pulse and felt nothing. She looked down upon the medical marvel that was Harry Potter, the boy-who-cheated-death with astonished amazement. She had believed that he had been lost to them.

"Draco …" Harry whispered, as his eyes blinked open, trying to regain focus. The blonde was instantly by his side, eyes tear stained, body exhausted and near collapse from the powerful magic they had used.

Wanting to give the two young men some space and privacy, Narcissa moved to help the now unconscious Hermione back into her bed. Her body, after having just been through labour, hadn't been able to cope with the strength of the magic they had used and she had fainted from sheer fatigue. Narcissa was easily able to distract herself from her son and his crush by checking over Ron and Hermione, using her knowledge as a healer to assure they would be okay.

"Harry, you're okay," Draco said with relief, tears of joy now flowing freely down his cheeks at the sight of Harry having woken up on his own accord.

"I saw my parents," Harry said weakly, "They told me that it was my time and they'd come to take me onwards, to whatever comes next." Draco gasped as Harry spoke, unable to comprehend just how close he had come to loosing Harry tonight, just when he had found him. "But I told them that I wasn't ready and then I heard it," Harry said.

"Heard what love?" Draco asked curiously as he wiped away his tears.

"You, I heard you," The Gryffindor said with a fond smile, "You were calling my name. You said that you weren't ready for me to leave you, you told me not to let go." Then after a moment of hesitation Harry added, "I wasn't ready to let go either Dray."

"Oh Harry," The healer said crying harder still as he leaned down and captured the Gryffindor's lips in a passionate kiss. He felt overwhelmingly relieved that he hadn't lost his hero this evening. It had been a rough night for all of them.

Across the room Narcissa had to avert her gaze as her son lip-locked with Harry Potter. Secretly to herself she smiled, glad that her son was finally happy. He had been alone and brooding for far too long. She had never been more grateful for her decision to defy the Dark Lord, lie to him in order to get to Draco in Hogwarts. She had never realised that ultimately her act in saving him would lead to this moment but she was glad that it had.

HPDM

It took Ron Weasley two weeks to full heal and repair all of the bones in his body. It had pained him greatly that he had been unable to hold his daughter until then and when he finally took Rose in his arms for the first time he cried.

The battle that had raged that night was one that was thought of in the same light as the great battle of Hogwarts. The group of dark wizards had finally admitted defeat as the new day had dawned and Harry Potter had emerged stronger than ever and tipped the scales in favour of the side of the light. Their ultimate plan to destroy the Auror department and take over the Ministry of Magic never coming to fruition.

With head Auror Malcolm Gatesby dead the position was offered to Harry who hadn't been convinced that he wasn't it or even if he wanted to carry on working as an Auror at all. Both he and Draco agreed that it was a needlessly dangerous profession when neither of them needed the money. Instead of accepting the position Harry had given his recommendations to appoint Ron Weasley who took the job with humility and pride, accepting Harry's resignation with sadness and understanding.

The Gryffindor golden boy, wanting a quiet life with his boyfriend began to converse with Headmistress McGonagall who happily offered him the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at the school, a position he accepted happily.

Draco hired his mother as a healer at St Mungos, training her in secret to take over his position as head healer. He too had been conversing with Minerva and had been told in confidence that Poppy Pomfrey had the desire to retire and he wanted to take over from her. Draco kept this secret even from harry who had been adorable with his worrying. He'd spent weeks fretting that once he started work as a Professor at Hogwarts that they wouldn't have enough time to see each other as they would be living and working on opposite sides of the country.

A month after that one night where Draco had brought Harry back from the dead, there were only three days before Harry was to start work at the school. Tonight was the night. Draco broke the news to his boyfriend that they would both be starting work at Hogwarts together, however they would be living in separate accommodation as they weren't married.

As he had been told this harry had simply laughed, "I'd been waiting for the right moment," He said, removing a ring box from his robe pocket and playing with it in his hands. "I wanted you to know how serious I was about you even though we'd be so far away from each other." Harry said, rambling a little as he struggled to get the words out.

He got down on one night, his old injury aching a little with the movement, opening the box he presented the ring to his boyfriend. "I know we haven't been dating that long but to me this has been five years in the making. Draco Malfoy, will you marry me?"

"Yes," Draco said happily, "Absolutely yes, I will marry you."

HPDM

That one night had been the most terrifying, most eye opening, extraordinary life altering night either of them had ever had. However it was one night that they wouldn't alter for anything in the whole world because they finally had each other and they were going to be together for a very long time. They were never going to let each other go.


End file.
